Senior Advocate of the SCI, T R Adhyarujina has recently written (an abridged form of his speech at the Bombay High Court) in the Hindu about the disturbing trends in judicial activism by the Supreme Court of India.

His argument is interesting and I mostly agree with what he is saying about how the court is slowly usurping the role of an elected government in a constitutional democracy. Mr. Andhyarujina is known for his criticism of excessive judicial activism in the country (for example, this article in the Indian Express). It is perhaps the debilitating helplessness with the lack of governance in India that a common person feels when he/she considers repetitive invocation of the SCI’s ‘supervisory’ powers. Also, the fact that the government at least listens (has to listen, fearing contempt proceedings!) to the edicts of the courts adds to the SCI and other courts’ criticism for judicial activism.

I have written previously about how the SCI has been over-enthusiastic in disposing certain matters before it. What is interesting is that certain judges are more predisposed to being activist, and an analysis as to what makes a judge an activist judge is something that requires deeper study.